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From May 20 through June 3rd, there is to be no discussion of US politics. All existing threads on the subject will be closed. People can start new ones once the hiatus is over. See the thread in Trouble Tickets for more info.

KeyForge and Deckbuilding

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Aspiring Kermit

My reading of the announcement is that the first set should be playable against the second, but I could be wrong. I would be very encouraged if there were OP events where you could still use the first set.

Registered User

From the release info on FFG:
“Importantly, Age of Ascension is a companion to Call of the Archons, not a replacement or a sequel! You don't need to start with Call of the Archons in order to reach Age of Ascension, and you don't need to switch to Age of Ascension Archon Decks in order to remain competitive.”

Registered User

Picked up a starter box, because it's not very expensive and while I still have questions about how well the idea CAN work, the fact is that I like card games and hate deckbuilding. So off we go.

First two random decks are "The Rookie that Convoked Infiltration" (I feel called out) and "The Man that Culturally Hurts Art" (which, man, that's a villain in a super cerebral superhero story right there). Brobnar/Mars/Shadows for the first, Logos/Shadows/Untamed for the second.

These names are simultaneously deeply dumb, and incredibly entertaining.

Registered User

They've only mentioned a couple, but you have to wonder if all the big meta-defining cards made it across. Mostly talking about cards like Bait and Switch, of course, but to a lesser degree also Gateway to Dis, Dust Pixie, Crystal Hive, key cards like that.

Registered User

Just had a game with an interaction I never saw before: my opponent played the Mars spider that captures aember whenever you gain it; I waited till my opponent was at 7+ aember, then played Bait & Switch. So the spider wound up capturing all of my opponents aember, then I killed it and forged a key next turn.

Registered User

Tell ya what, I'd love to see more anti-stealing tech in this game. Shadows is widely recognised as the strongest faction, and I think that's primarily because of broad access to Steal. Certainly Bait + Switch is the best steal card, but they're not lacking in other great ones.

There's that Sanctum character that stops Steal outright, but he's hard to come across.

For example I'd like to see a Sanctum character with "Action: Purge all cards with the word Steal on them from all discard piles." That'd be enough of a double-edged sword that it's not a no-brainer play (not so much because of the damage to your own deck, but because you'd be making their draws more consistently loaded in one house) but would provide some check on the key Shadow steal cards.
Or maybe a Logos card that deals one damage to an opposing creature each time an Aember is stolen off you.
Or an Untamed card that lets you gain 2 Aember each time an Aember is stolen off you.

Of course, cards specifically for foiling particular strategies are always going to be weak in certain match ups, but Steal is so strong right now that I think it'd be okay. Plus, of course, any card that seems too specific can be made competitive by having an aember on it.

Alternatively, a few card updates could sort things, like an "errata" that gives Bait and Switch the Omega keyword. Having said that, I'd rather this game avoid any errata if at all possible, especially if made for balance reasons.

Registered User

Incidentally, previews so far show Shadows to have even more powerful steal effects incoming. Notably Swindle is like Bait and Switch if that card had been balanced properly. Steals 3 at most, and takes your whole turn to do so.